Dog Car Seat Failure.

[Jennifer and Jack]

Jack and I just had the scare of both of our lives. We were driving to do some errands, Jack was in the backseat in his booster seat that sits in the center of the back of my car. The booster seat was seat belted in and he was attached by harness to the booster seat.

 I have a Honda CRV. We were on a back road.. I was going about 45-50 mph. The person in front of me slammed on their brakes as a response to the car in front of them. I slammed on my brakes and Jack who was in a booster seat.. went flying like a 10 pound sack of potatoes up against my windshield of my car..he hit it full force and then was thrown under the dash board of the passenger side car....the little strap that was from the booster seat completely came out from the seam of the booster seat right where it was sewn in... When I say it didn't even slow Jack down, I am serious, it was as if it was not secured at all but rather tucked in. 

I immediately got out of the car...and Jack was knocked out.... I picked him up and he started panting really heavy... He didn't yelp or anything just panted heavy...He was only out for what I would guess less then a minute..

My vet was the closest place to bring him.... they took him right back, he has concussion but other then that he is okay. He has thrown up a few times. I have to check his pupils every hour or so to make sure they are responded right and if not I need to bring him to emergency...

Right now he seems okay, just nervous.. (who wouldn't be if they were just smashed into a windshield) My vet said to get rid of the booster seat totally, to write a letter to the company of the booster seat and to try a different means of strapping him in. The more high up they are the more likely they are to be ejected.....also because he was in the center, which I assumed was the safest afterall that is where we they tell you to put babies, he didn't even have a seat to slow him down or to brace him.

I still can't believe what I saw with my eyes... I am sure he is fine but please learn from us, we were not even on a major highway like we usually are where the speed limit is 70MPH just a country back road.... Please find safe measures to keep your baby from being ejected, had he weighed more, no doubt, he would have broken my windshield and who knows what would have happen to him, Please don't wait till it happens to you....I think he is going to be just fine, but I will never trust another dog carseat..

THe other harness that you can buy that strap to the carseat without the booster are too long and they will leave Jack hanging if I stopped short.. which I suppose is better then the windshield but I would like an even better more safe way. Jack is almost always in the car with me, it is rare that he isn't.. I seriously am going to see if he will tolerate a regular kids carseat.. I don't know about him sitting like that though if he will stay.. 

I read on here not that long ago, but a while ago, someone else making a plea to make sure your dogs were for sure safe in a car.. I didn't listen I just assumed...

Again, Jack is fine minus a concussion but seeing something you love so much thrown up against a windshield  knowing that they fully rely on you to keep them safe made me feel like an epic failure.

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

I am sorry this happened to you and Jack, I can imagine how scary that was. Hope he recovers quickly.

[Jennifer and Jack]

I think he is fine, he is wanting to eat, he is not allowed until tomorrow, SO I am taking that as a good sign. Thanks..

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

OMG! that is the scariest thing ever!!!  I'm so happy that Jack is ok but i think i want to cry!!!  

One time I had Zoe in the front seat and had to brake super fast and she hit the dash board and fell into the floor and that was a frightening experience for me!   I can't even start to imagine what kind of shock it was for him (and you).  

Hoping Jack is ok with no further injures.  

[Jennifer and Jack]

Thanks I hope there isn't either and I am not expecting there to be any... Thanks for understanding..

[Sue & Lily Grace]

OMD I am so glad Jack is ok. It is really scary when you think about how often just minor rear-enders happen. Lily Grace is in a Easy Rider harness and a teather attached to the child carseat attachment and I have a hammock seat cover, but I still worry.

[Jennifer and Jack]

I have an Easy Rider Harness that was what came loose from the regular booster seat, it was the booster seat that failed not the harness, what type of  teather do you have?

[Sue & Lily Grace]

I have a plastic encased cable that hooks under the seat to the child seat attachment. Onto the cable I have a nylon tether attached so it is not chafing Lily Grace. This is what concerns me. It is seat belt grade but you don't know until something happens. I had a booster seat for Cassie and used the easy rider harness with a tether but attached the tether to the seat belt. I think in an accident she still would have been thrown against the head rest or back of the seat. I count my blessings everytime I shut my car off and am home. It is crazy now in Florida, is there anyone left up north?

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

OMD Jen, I just held my breath through this entire post.

First, the reason Daisy is even strapped in at all is because she also came flying into the front seat from the back of my "SUV" she weighed 40lbs at the time and I had to stop short at 35 miles an hour, they simply must be secured.

Second, is the booster car seat you have the same as the one Jane of Jane Rooney and Stewart has? Are there others on the market?

I know you are freaked because so am I. I think he could be strapped in just like a big dog the lead is not that long.

[Jennifer and Jack]

Mine is just like Jane and Rooney's but I think a different manufacture. I did pay $170.00 for it though.   I guess I have a different lead or the wrong size because the lead really does let Jack walk right off the back seat of the car .

I am not really freaked out at the moment I am not sure why.. I think because when I get scared to death, I block things out of my mind... I just didn't want it to be real.. but he is okay.. I keep checking his pupils, his gait is normal... He is sleeping but he always sleeps..

Nothing like a false sense of security/

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

OMD Jennifer!!  I am glad that you and Jake are ok.  I will keep my fingers crossed that he only has a mild concussion and that you don't need to race back to the ER.  I can only imagine how freaked out you must have been.

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

I meant Jack...sorry...was typing while on hold on a call at work :)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am glad that Jack is okay!